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Where to Dine in Mexico City!

April 11, 2017

Quickly becoming a foodie
destination, Mexico City’s culinary scene offers up a world of flavours and is
bursting with trendy eateries from a new generation of chefs that take locally
sourced ingredients and modern applications to create new versions on Mexican
classics. The food is so good it was awarded UNESCO World Heritage status — a
global first. From traditional to trendy, DF’s emerging food scene is reason
enough to visit. Here’s a mouth-watering list of where to eat!

Be
sure to try the delicious STREET FOOD - especially fresh tacos with
lots of tasty salsa verde! Take a taco tour or head out to explore the crowded
food stands that line the city’s atmospheric streets. Here are a few worth
noting.

Located
in the trendy Roma district, FONDA
FINA is a place where locals gather in a warm and inviting setting to
enjoy an affordable home-style meal off a daily set menu. However, don’t let
the word ‘affordable’ fool you! Chef Juan Cabrera really flexes his culinary
muscles by using an array of fresh ingredients to reinvent and enhance the
flavours of traditionally-inspired Mexican dishes; each plate beautifully
presented and utterly delicious. Wash down specialities such as bonemarrow
panucho, pork belly sope and noodles with chilaquiles with a cold Teporocho (a
tequila, rum and beer drink served in a paper bag covered glass).

Executive
Chef, Atzin Santos Candia, will blow your mind - or should I say taste
buds - with his avant-garde culinary skills at RESTAURANTE ATALAYA in Mexico
City’s Santa Fe district. Each dish he prepares is a visual work of art that
combines a unique array of textures and flavours that create a symphony in your
mouth. From foie gras torchon with popcorn and wild berries, aguachile negro
with shrimp and watermelon, scallops with potato foam, cochinita pibil and deer
with ‘mole amarillito’ and banana purée, to an impressive array of desserts,
this is a dining experience for the ages.

Housed
in an underground cave behind the Pirámide de la Luna in Teotihuacan, LA GRUTA restaurant
(“The Cave” in Spanish) is a journey through Mexico’s culinary heritage. This
‘farm to table’ traditional Mexican restaurant has been family run for 3
generations. Executive Chef, Carlos Cedillo, serves up local specialities
such as homemade mole, enchiladas, chapulines (deep fried grasshoppers),
escamoles (ant eggs) and deep fried white worms that are surprisingly good,
especially when accompanied by a delicious Xoconostle margarita. At the end of
each meal, guests of La Gruta are invited to light a candle and leave it at the
altar of the God Xolotl located inside the cave to send positive energy to
staff and local residents. The ambiance and experience here is one you won’t
forget!

Steps
from the canals of Xochimilco, CHANTICO restaurant
provides a picturesque Mexican setting to dine on traditional dishes. Served on
colourful ceramic tiles next to an old-world kitchen, it feels like you are
travelling back in time to dine among Mexican ancestors. Try handmade salsas,
guacamole, quesadillas, sopecitos, habas, pata toasts, huahzontles, tlapique
and nieve de pepino (cucumber ice-cream).

When
it comes to great culinary experiences, Mexico City provides many! Among them
is RESTAURANTE NICOS in
Colonia Claveria that serves traditional Mexican cuisine in a relaxed, local
setting that feels like you are dining with family. Perhaps that is because
this neighbourhood restaurant has been serving family recipes since 1957. What
began as a cafeteria has since evolved into the beloved institution it is
today, where architect-turned-chef, Gerardo Vázquez Lugo, reproduces the
award-winning recipes past down from his mother, Elena, using traditional
cooking methods and locally sourced ingredients. Some of his signature dishes
are quelites and nopales soup, duck salmagundi toast, smoked merlin carpaccio,
dry soup and cajeta cheese flan. Named as one of the 50 best restaurants in
Mexico on the 50 Best Restaurants in Latin America List, this will prove to be one
of your best dining experiences!

One
of the best views over Mexico City’s Centro Historico can be had on the rooftop
of Central Hoteles’ BALCON
DEL ZOCALO restaurant. Go for the delicious food. Go for the
incredible views. Whatever the reason, just make sure you go! Executive Chef,
Jose Salinas, ensures that every meal is nothing short of culinary perfection.
Guests of Central Hoteles can learn the cooking techniques of traditional
Mexican cuisine by embarking on a culinary adventure with Chef Salinas who will
guide you through local markets to purchase fresh ingredients to experience the
passion, love and dedication put towards each meal in a private cooking class.

Move
over Tequila, Mexico’s new national beverage is Mezcal! This Mexican distilled
spirit is made with agave leaves employing old-world traditions. One of the
best is SIETE MISTERIOS MEZCAL. The
brand was created by two brothers with a vision and mission to rescue the
Mezcal tradition and bring it to the international market. Once you try this
superior drink, you will never go back to Tequila!

STAY At Zócalo Central, you
book the flight and the hotel’s ‘Experience Planners’ will help you plan the
rest. Located in the city’s historical epicentre, the 105 room Zócalo Central
is housed in a 400 year old historical building that once belonged to Hernán
Cortés, the man who conquered Mexico City from the Aztec. The hotel’s
impressive rooftop restaurant – El Balcon del Zócalo – serves some of the
city’s best food and offers breathtaking views over the Zócalo Plaza.
www.centralhoteles.com

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Travelista73 is an online destination that inspires travel dreams and journeys through a collection of images, travel tips, hotel reviews, getaway guides and travel stories curated by travel journalist and writer Francesca Spizzirri, known internationally as Travelista73.